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Competing Interpretations of the Socio-Political Crisis in Ukraine in 2013-20161

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Competing Interpretations of the Socio-Political Crisis in Ukraine in 2013-20161 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18315/argumentum.v8i3.14505 ARTIGO Competing interpretations of the socio-political crisis in Ukraine in 2013-20161 Interpretações em disputa sobre a crise sociopolítica na Ucrânia em 2013-2016 Valentin YAKUSHIK2 Abstract: This article addresses the sharp ideological conflicts which underlie attempts to characterise and explain the on-going socio-political crisis in Ukraine, which started in 2013. It argues that both academic and non-academic commentators have presented diametrically opposed interpretations of the nature of the events of Autumn 2013 – Spring 2014, as well as of the relevant interpretations of the continuing socio-political crisis facing the country. Characterisations of these events vary from a revolution of dignity, denunciations of foreign intervention and separatist movements to assertions of a coup d’état which promoted and provoked regionalist movements and civil war. A second objective of the article is therefore to demonstrate the limitations of one- dimensional, strikingly ideologised interpretations of these events and the need for scholars engaged in the social sciences to generate unbiased, multi-dimensional, multi-level visions of complex, contradictory, tectonic transformations in contemporary Ukraine. Keywords: Ukraine - Revolution. Interpretation. Resumo: Este artigo aborda os agudos conflitos ideológicos que subjazem às tentativas de caracterizar e expli- car a crise sociopolítica em curso na Ucrânia, que abriu em 2013. Argumenta-se que os comentaristas acadêmi- cos e não acadêmicos apresentaram interpretações diametralmente opostas da natureza dos eventos do outono de 2013 – primavera de 2014, bem como as interpretações relevantes da contínua crise sócio-política que o país enfrenta. As caracterizações desses eventos variam de uma revolução da dignidade, denúncias de intervenção estrangeira e movimentos separatistas a asserções de um golpe de estado que promoveu e provocou movimen- tos regionalistas e guerra civil. Assim, um segundo objetivo do artigo é demonstrar as limitações das interpre- tações unidimensionais, notavelmente ideologizadas desses eventos e a necessidade dos estudiosos engajados nas ciências sociais gerarem visões imparciais, multidimensionais e multi-nível das transformações tectônicas complexas, contraditórias na Ucrânia contemporânea. Palavras-Chave: Ucrânia - Revolução. Interpretação. Submetido em: 3/11/2016. Aceito em: 21/11/2016. Introduction The development of multi-aspect, multi-level understanding of the complex, contradictory, and tectonic transformations of modern Ukraine is important and topical for political sci- ence if efficient practical political programmes are to be developed which properly address the current crisis. Multidimensionality is proposed here as providing just such an approach to the analysis of the recent political events. Under this approach a strident fixation on any one level of analysis, and/or on any limited methodology is rejected. It is hoped that when considering the full range of issues of political changes that began in Ukraine in the autumn 1 English revision: Rory O'Hara, formerly Senior Lecturer in Politics and Management at the University of East London. 2 Professor of Department of Political Science of the University of “Kiev-Mohyla Academy” (Kiev, Ukraine). 2 Skovorody vul., Kyiv 04655, Ukraine. Ph.D. in Political Science, PhD. in Law. E-mail: <yakus- [email protected]>. [Professor de Ciência Política, Universidade de “Kievo-Mogilianska Academia” (Kiev, Ucrânia)]. 105 Argum. (Vitória), v. 8, n. 3, p. 105-121, set./dez. 2016. Valentin YAKUSHIK of 2013 and which have continued, in one form or another, until the present day, it is possi- ble to overcome the narrow ideological isolation and biases which are prevalent in most of mass media covering the events in Ukraine. In this way, a much-needed departure from such subjectivist approaches, often highly sensationalist and usually borrowed from the me- dia environment, will ultimately help Ukraine-related political studies reach the level in which an authentic academic would be possible, rather than a journalistic approach to the relevant key issues. Several competing interpretations of the nature and content of the emerging and ongoing transformations in Ukraine have been proposed. These offer significantly different analyses from each other and vary profoundly in their depth, ideological orientation and in the policy prescriptions they propose. Such analyses relate to: (a) the daily life of millions of Ukrainian citizens and citizens of those countries where a large (or a certain) part of the population perceive the problems of Ukraine as their own, often assessed as being of a vital importance; (b) politicians (both Ukrainian and international / foreign) and the politicised section of the expert community (political scientists, economists, journalists and other professional interpreters, including those who position themselves as social scientists); (c) academic research, for which the academic truth is of a higher importance than the short-term party truths and corporate truths. Almost without exception these analyses have focused on either short-term or narrow (bi- ased) aspects of the problem under consideration, so that when beginning from such posi- tion it is scarcely possible to comprehend the complexity of the Ukrainian socio-political crisis. Accordingly, the present research attempts to present this complexity in its proper light, so that future researchers of the subject may benefit from the inferences to be drawn from this paper’s findings. Much of the recent analysis of Ukraine’s current crisis is ahistorical, failing even to acknowledge the nation’s precarious socio-economic dynamics over the course of the last 25 years, a period which encompasses Ukraine’s transition to independent statehood following the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. During this period, Ukraine has become noto- rious for its poor economic performance and the nation’s rankings as defined by most prom- inent global socio-economic indices. Per the World Bank’s Doing Business index, Ukraine’s ranks 80th (among 137 economies examined) in 2017 on regulatory measures that enhance or restrain business activity (WORLD BANK, [2016]). More worryingly, the Ukrainian economy is perceived as being beset by persistent corruption and inefficiency (see e.g.: (RAPOZA, 2016), and has exhibited a tendency for further degradation. According to Ukrainian econo- mist Igor Tyshkevich, the Ukrainian economy has been consistently declining in terms of its economic complexity indicators (as measured by Harvard’s Centre for International Devel- opment (CID) 1995 methodology). Indeed, should present trends continue, it is feared that the country will have become hopelessly bankrupt by 2030 (TYSHKEVICH, 2016). Hence, the problem of State dysfunctionality is a powerful underlying conditioning factor which needs to be constantly borne in mind when referring to the current Ukrainian crisis. The socio-psychological context of the post-2013 crisis reflects the general disillusionment of the Ukrainian population regarding the perspectives of both the state and “official” civil so- 106 Argum. (Vitória), v. 8, n. 3, p. 105-121, set./dez. 2016. Competing interpretations of s0cio-political crisis in Ukraine in 2013-2016 ciety. In particular, according to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) integrat- ed survey project published in May 2015 (with V. Paniotto and N. Kharchenko being the presentation’s authors), contemporary Ukrainian society is dominated by pessimistic or at least restrained perceptions on the prospects of its further development. According to KIIS, 64% of respondents expect a further deterioration in the economic situation over the next 5 years (though 42% of respondents believe that it can be improved over the same period) (PANIOTTO; KHARCHENKO, [2015], p. 9-10). Negative attitudes towards key political in- stitutions of the State are also increasing. In March 2015, only 12% of those polled expressed confidence in the government, while confidence in Parliament was measured at minus 54% (PANIOTTO; KHARCHENKO, [2015], p. 24). In addition, a survey conducted by the Demo- cratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Centre’s sociological service among resi- dents of Ukraine for the period from 14 to 22 November 2015 (excluding Crimea and the un- controlled territories of Ukraine in Donetsk and Lugansk regions), in which 2009 respond- ents aged 18 and over were interviewed, demonstrated that Ukrainian society does not have trust in its political parties. Only 1.1% of respondents would “fully” trust these structures, while 39.2% of respondents were found to be “completely” distrustful of political parties. Only 10.7% would claim to be “generally” confident of the Parties’ efficiency, while 40% would “mostly not trust” them (RAZUMKOV CENTRE, 2015). Purely political interpretations of the meaning and direction of political transformations in Ukraine are directly dependent on the general positions of the relevant politicians, political parties and the related politicised expert community sections. Such a link between the polit- ical positions of the respective national elites and their representation in an expert form once again highlights the fact that many of the serious analysts often interpret events based on the strategic-philosophical positions of the political and intellectual leadership of their societies and their dominant components. Within the Ukrainian expert
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